Metals and organic species associated with fine and coarse aerosol particles in an electronic waste recycling plant

Abstract   Wastes from electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) are disposed and dismantled in recycling plants where chemical composition of particulate matter (PM) is different from all the other working places. A first identification of airborne contaminants, associated with size-segregated particles in the fine (aerodynamic diameter  <  2.5 µm) and coarse (aerodynamic diameter in the range 2.5–10 µm) fractions, sampled in two sectors of a WEEE facility, was performed. In the two areas of the plant, disassembly and shredding processes produced large amounts of dust, causing mass concentrations of airborne particles particul arly high when activities intensified.Analyses of Na, Mg, Al, Si, P, S, Cl, K, Ca, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, Ga, As, Se, Br, Rb, Sr, Y, Zr, Mo, Ba, and Pb were performed on PM samples collected by a streaker sampler. PM was collected with hourly and 30-min time resolution in the two sectors of the plant for three consecutive days, night and day.Organic substances belonging to the classes of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and their oxy- and nitro- derivatives (oxy-PAHs and nitro-PAHs), organophosphorus compounds (OPEs), polyfluoralkyl substances (PFASs), and novel-brominated flame retardants (BFRs) were extracted and identified in PM samples collected by PM10 impactors. Particle sampling period for organic analyses was 4  h per day in the same three days, in each sector of the plant, during the working hours.High time reso...
Source: Air Quality, Atmosphere and Health - Category: Environmental Health Source Type: research